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Rackham Capital Investments
Rackham Capital Investments is an investment company owned by billionaire Zachary Rackham and based within the Federation. It is the sponsor of the annual Rackham Ultratech Expo.GalNet: Computer Firms Promote New Designs History 3304 On June 20, 3304, Zachary Rackham revealed he had made a large charitable donation to fund the development of new shipyards in the Colonia Region, a move that financial journalist Bryanna Blanco noted coincided with a company-wide audit of Rackham Capital Investments.GalNet: Investor Funds Colonia Shipyards On August 16, Rackham was announced to be the winner of the Federal Grand Lottery's one billion credit Galactic Jackpot; while Rackham insisted the money would be distributed to several charities, Bryanna Blanco claimed that it would likely be used to pay of Rackham Capital Investments' massive unpaid tax bill.GalNet: Billionaire Wins Lottery Rackham Capital Investments began providing funding for Herculean Machines to produce the Duradrive personal computer following the device's successful debut at the Rackham Ultratech Expo on October 3, 3304. By October 12, Herculean Machines began mass production of the Duradrive.GalNet: Duradrive Enters Production On October 18, 3304, the personal account of Zachary Rackham was hacked by an organization calling itself the Collective. One billion credits were withdrawn and redistributed to several hundred former Rackham Capital Investments employees who had been previously denied company pensions. Financial journalist Bryanna Blanco of the Federal Times commented that the hack's purpose was apparently to reclaim the one billion credit prize that Rackham obtained from the Federal Grand Lottery in August.GalNet: Rackham Hacked 3305 On March 15, 3305, Rackham Capital Investments' board of directors appointed Taja Gavaris as CFO, replacing the late Aaron Salazar, who had been a personal friend of Zachary Rackham. Rackham himself was not present for the vote, as he had taken a leave of absence to grieve for Salazar. Insiders speculated that Gavaris' rapid rise was part of a plot by the board of directors to oust Rackham from control of his own company.GalNet: Rackham Fatality Creates Power Struggle On March 23, Bryanna Blanco accused Gavaris of being a pirate and rival of Rackham who used her knowledge of Rackham's past illicit activities to rise to the top of the company and eliminate Rackham's allies.GalNet: Pirate History of Taja Gavaris Unveiled A second Rackham Capital Investments executive, Derrin O'Shea, also died abruptly and was replaced by a supporter of Taja Gavaris on March 29. Although authorities did not rule O'Shea's death as suspicious and also declined to investigate Gavaris and Rackham, Bryanna Blanco asserted that the emerging corporate power struggle resembled two pirate captains vying for dominance.GalNet: Second Fatality in Rackham Conflict The Federal Intelligence Agency finally opened an investigation into the executives' deaths and the activities of Rackham Capital Investments on April 4, and the Federal Times agreed to cooperate by sharing their files.GalNet: Rackham Under Investigation However, on April 12, the FIA firmly denied that it was conducting any investigation into RCI, noting that Zachary Rackham was a member of the FIA Civilian Oversight Board in good standing and there was no evidence that RCI was involved in criminal activity. This came as a surprise to Bryanna Blanco, who explained that credentialed FIA agents had come to the Federal Times' offices earlier and retrieved its files on RCI executives.GalNet: Rackham Investigation Ruled Out The RCI power struggle concluded on April 20, 3305, when Taja Gavaris and her loyalists resigned their positions and emigrated from Federal space. They also waived their final salaries and bonuses, which amounted to over 365 million credits. Bryanna Blanco commented that the false FIA agents who had retrieved the Federal Times' files on RCI were likely disguised operatives in Zachary Rackham's employ, and the files were apparently used to blackmail Gavaris and her faction into giving up their play for control of RCI. However, none of this could be proved. The Federal Times also confirmed that it had received a donation of 36.5 million credits from RCI "in recognition of the organisation's dedication to ethical journalism".GalNet: Taja Gavaris Resigns as Rackham CFO In October 3305, as the galaxy was affected by a food shortage caused by a widespread crop blight, Rackham Capital Investments was one of several private companies that donated funds to provide food shipments to areas in need.GalNet: In the Shadow of the Blight References